What's my best bet for child care

[SapphireandFevertree]

My DS is currently 10 weeks old. I have to go back to work at 6 months as I am the major bread winner and will always be. The plan was my DP would then take 6 months "maternity leave".
Hi cercumstances at work have changed and now it may significantly help is career if he were not to take the time off.
Where I had planned to send him to nursery for 3days a week from 1 year I don't really want to do that when he's only 6months old. Am I being silly and overprotective?
Would I be better with a childminder or Nanny (and sorry for my ignorance but what's the difference?)

I'm clearly having problems with the "H" key. Sorry.

You can take some comfort in that your little one will probably settle much more easily with another carer at six months than he would at a year old. I am admittedly biased, but I would agree that a baby is better either with a nanny at home or with a childminder in her (or his!) homely environment than in a nursery (your home or theirs is the difference between a nanny and a childminder). Good luck with your search.

A nanny would look after him in your own home and cost you between £7-14 per hour, depending on where you live.

A childminder would look after him in his/her own home alongside other children and would cost you £3.50-£7 per hour, depending on location.

Personally I would go for a nanny or childminder over a nursery at such a young age so that the baby can build a real bond with one person, rather than a succession of nursery workers. This would work especially well if you have family/another back up plan for the odd day where nanny/childminder may be sick/unavailable/on holiday...

I would always go for a nanny or a childminder over a nursery for a child under 2.5/3 years old. Particularly if you're talking about 8am-6pm or similar hours.

As you only have one child, a Childminder is what I would suggest.

A childminder cares for several children at the same time in the childminders home, which helps make it a lower cost to each parent. The children will often be of various ages, so it's like being in a bigger family - your son will have other children to interact with during parts of the day... some of the children will go to school/pre-school.

A nanny comes to your home and cares just for your child, so it's a very expensive option for parents with only one child - as a nanny the family I work for has 3 children, so it's more cost effective as nannies are a per-family cost, rather than a per-child cost.

So to find a childminder, your first port of call is your local Families Information Service which is often run by your local council. Visit your council website and search for Family Information Service, or anything about childcare - and the council's website will give you the contact details. The family information service hold a list of all Registered Childminders in your area. Once you have a list of local Registered Childminders, you can then call them and see if they have any availability to take care of your son, and if they do, arrange to visit them to see where your son would be cared for and discuss his needs and about the service the childminder provides.

Hi, does anyone have any childminder recommendations in Chiswick? My little DS is currently at nursery and is 11 months old but not sure this is the right environment for him. Appreciate any advice. x

I use both. My daughter started at nursery at 9 months old (3 days a week) and settled extremely well. She is lively and boisterous and thrives in the environment. She has benefited from being with a number of different adults and has made a number of friends from a range of ages, genders and racial backgrounds. Her speech and confidence is fantastic and I put a lot of that down to the nursery.
However my son hated nursery! We allowed him a couple of months to try and settle but he was just miserable. He also has underlying health issues which were compromised by the nursery environment (including parents ignoring the 48 hour "stay at home" policy after D&V - different story!). Anyway we booked 4 meetings with CMs but only saw 2 in the end. The 2nd one jumped out at us and despite being more expensive than our nursery (£6 hour) we chose her. DS was settled before the week was out and loves her and her children implicitly. He thrives in an environment where he has one adult to rely on and a couple of children to play with but not the hussle and bussle of nursery.
Therefore, despite the hassle of two separate pick-up/drop-offs, I believe we have made the best decisions for each of our individual children. If I did it again I would look at a couple of each and go with my heart for my own child as they all need different things.